/an/ - Animals & Nature » Thread #331308

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Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 05:24:00 No.331308 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By:

My rats cage.

Is simply shaking the boxes out and getting all the poop and stuff like that out of them enough to keep the boxes clean enough for them? Or is my elaborate system of soda boxes and crap bad for the rats?

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 05:26:00 No.331311 Report

Quoted By:

Well, it give the rat something to do and besides, those cardboard boxes and what have you can serve as a emergency ration for your rat.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO unknown.jpg, 0B, 0x0

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 05:28:00 No.331314 Report

Quoted By: >>331319 >>331343

Also, In some of the corners of the cage, I'm getting this...pieces of poop stuck underneath the mesh. For the most part I get it out, but if I leave little bits of it in there (it's stuck, would be rather difficult to get it out...) trapped under the screen, would it really hurt them?

I know it's not exactly healthy for them, but would it REALLY hurt them? I got the cage used from my uncle, and it had leftover pieces of shit stuck under there from their chinchilla, who lived for 4 years...so it couldn't have hurt him much.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 05:29:00 No.331315 Report

Quoted By: >>331318

Won't last too long. It'll get soaked with urine eventually.

I'm not sure about the inks and whatnot on the boxes. As long as they just chew on them, instead of eating them I guess it'd be okay.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 05:32:00 No.331318 Report

Quoted By:

>>331315
But will it actually be BAD for them? I'm sure having a somewhat urine stained floor in some of the boxes won't be good for them, but is it something that will seriously affect their health?

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 05:33:00 No.331319 Report

Quoted By: >>331320

>>331314I know it's not exactly healthy for them, but would it REALLY hurt them?

It can. Diseases spread REALLY easily in that type of environment. They get one little cut on their foot or torn claw or something, and it can kill them.

And it's also quality of life. Yes, rats who eat a ton and don't get much activity live a good year, maybe two longer, but are they really having as much fun?

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 05:34:00 No.331320 Report

Quoted By: >>331324

>>331319
Well I give them plenty of activity and all, that's not what this is about.

Like I said, it would be difficult to get some of the pieces out...would simply covering them up with something to protect the rats from them be enough?

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 05:47:00 No.331324 Report

Quoted By: >>331325

>>331320
That was just an example.

There's really nothing that can replace a good scrubbing every couple weeks. You really should clean it out.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 05:50:00 No.331325 Report

Quoted By: >>331326

>>331324
I see. I'll do it next time I clean out their cage I guess...

I've read it's a good idea to use bleach water on the floor of their cage...it won't hurt them if I bleach parts of the cage?

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 05:54:00 No.331326 Report

Quoted By:

>>331325
Not as long as you clean it off/out really, REALLY well after you use it. Cause bleach + Anything living = Bad.

There is some 'official' cage cleaner out there, supposedly works specifically well on rodent smells. And it does, I've used it, but how much better would it be than normal bleach and a good cleaning afterwards? Dunno.

Just smell it afterwards and if it doesn't smell like bleach, you should be good.

Also, since you seem to be pretty creative, you may want to build mazes or something (I used Legos) for your rat/s to work out. They like using their heads as much as running around.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 06:48:00 No.331343 Report

Quoted By: >>331449

>>331314

Average life span of a chinchilla is 10-15 years. If yours only lived 4 years, than there must have been something wrong... I'm not saying the cage was what killed it. But you should take that into consideration. If the chinchilla died of a disease while living in that cage, you should REALLY clean it with [nontoxic] pet cleaning products so your ratty doesn't die young either.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 09:45:00 No.331449 Report

Quoted By: >>331492

>>331343
I see...don't know what theirs died from. I'll have to find out.

Also, on a somewhat related note, If I build them some shit with my k'nex set (fuck legos), and they chew on it, will that hurt them? I would assume most likely not, but I'm being careful with my babies <3

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 11:29:00 No.331492 Report

Quoted By: >>331503

>>331449
Well it's not something you leave them alone with; besides, it's fun to watch them figure out a maze. They're plastic right? I doubt they'll try and eat it.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 13:02:00 No.331503 Report

Quoted By:

>>331492
Yeah, but I'll also try building them other shit to leave in their cage. Either way, I can just sew it into some cloth or something if I have to.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 15:11:00 No.331533 Report

Quoted By:

I bought some "Safe, nontoxic" cage cleaner once, and when using it (spray liberally, wipe down, rinse with water) I noticed it had a lingering scent. A very familiar scent. They don't mark on the bottle what it is, but I'm 100% certain the active ingredient is vinegar, well-known for its deodorant properties. It had something else added to mask the smell a bit and possibly be a freshener, but you'd probably be just as well off washing with cheap vinegar, a good way to eliminate urine smell from an otherwise-clean cage.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 30 Oct 2008 16:38:00 No.331555 Report

Quoted By: >>331757

The entire cage isn't really appropriate for a small animal - wood soaks up urine and you won't ever get it out. That could be bad for any future rats.

If you don't want to opt for a new cage, my suggestion is to cover the floor with a plastic tray (from a farm/home supply store) - this will help prevent foot blistering/nail pulling from a wire bottom - and save your boxes in a closet. Give them one or two boxes a week, that way you can monitor when they get soiled and need to be replaced.

As long as your rats have a dark place to chill, they don't really care for clutter. They do like to chew and tear, but dog bones or bird pinatas would work fine without all the mess. And at this rate, you're gonna run out of boxes.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 31 Oct 2008 02:53:00 No.331757 Report

Quoted By:

>>331555
>If you don't want to opt for a new cage, my suggestion is to cover the floor with a plastic tray (from a farm/home supply store) - this will help prevent foot blistering/nail pulling from a wire bottom

Hm....would cutting out a piece of cardboard to cover the entire floor work?

>As long as your rats have a dark place to chill, they don't really care for clutter.

I figured the more places they have to crawl through, the better. Thought they enjoyed that...

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